RITA Tax Information

News

Some tax related information to share and some questions are answered below. Reminder, the filing deadline has been extended until July 1

  • House Bill 197: modified the “20 day rule” by allowing employers to withhold tax for the principal place of work municipality rather than the location where employees are working remotely due to the COVID-19 crisis.  The time frame for this relief is retroactive to the date Ohio declared a State of Emergency (March 9, 2020) and will terminate 30 days after the State of Emergency is lifted.  It was suggested the reason for this provision is to allow for “status quo” during the pandemic to ease the burden of employers tracking employees that are working remotely.The question was raised whether taxpayers working remotely while being withheld for the principal place of work can file for a refund. The legislation does not mention refunds. Some believe the General Assembly did not intend for refunds to be issued while others believe existing case law would support issuing requested refunds. The OML Tax Committee is planning to continue discussion on this topic on April 24, 2020.
  • Penalty and Interest: General discussion regarding the need for municipalities to adjust penalty and interest enforcement for balance due as well as payments for first and second quarter estimated payments due to the filing and payment extension to July 15. In addition, some municipalities are freezing or not charging any penalty and interest for the foreseeable future. Some municipalities have suspended collection and legal action.RITA has already made the necessary adjustments to penalty and interest for the extended filing deadline and estimated tax payments but will continue to enforce penalty and interest on prior year balances due. The Agency has added language to its billing statements advising taxpayers that are unable to remit payment to contact the Agency’s call center or create a service request through MyAccount.

    We are working with taxpayers who need monthly payment arrangements or additional time to make payments under their existing payment plans due to changing situations related to COVID-19. 

  • Payroll Tax Credit: No municipality is aware of a payroll tax credit and there was no change to employer withholding due dates.
  • Stimulus Check Taxability: At this time the consensus is the stimulus checks will not be taxable by municipalities.
  • Where can I find the HB 197 provisions in ORC 718?: The H.B. 197 provisions related to municipal income tax were passed in the uncodified section of the legislation, meaning that those provisions will not be codified into Chapter 718 or any other Chapter of the Ohio Revised Code. Those provisions are contained in Sections 28 and 29 of the legislation

 

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